Epoxy floors are gaining widespread use in a number of industries such as food, pharmaceutical and nuclear power. The two part epoxies used are specifically designed to give a glass-smooth finish coat to concrete floors. This eliminates unwanted pockets such as found in rough concrete floors where undesirable debris can collect, and makes cleanup of the floors much easier.
During the mixing or agitation of the epoxy floor material, air becomes entrapped in the epoxy. Also, air is introduced into the epoxy during pouring and spreading of the epoxy onto the floor. Concrete surfaces are by nature porous, which also adds to the amount of air trapped in the epoxy material during the spreading of the epoxy material onto the floor. Moreover, atmospheric pressure changes are a large contributor of gas bubbles in epoxy (as well as polyurethane) floor materials. The entrapped air forms various sized air bubbles which naturally rise to the surface of the epoxy material, but will not normally escape due to surface tension. When the epoxy material hardens, the air bubbles at the surface are micro thin and can easily be broken, leaving behind craters or pockets where undesirable debris can collect. Thus, there is a need for an effective tool to break both the surface bubbles and the air bubbles still suspended in the wet epoxy so that the voids caused by the air bubbles will flow closed without cratering before the epoxy hardens.
The same need exists for polyurethane floor materials which are also used to give a glass-smooth finish to concrete floors. Thus, while epoxy floor materials are specifically discussed, it should be understood that the same tool can similarly be used to eliminate air bubbles from polyurethane and other such floor materials as well.
Currently plastic injection molded spiked rollers are used to break the air bubbles and allow the air to be released from the epoxy while the epoxy is still wet. However, the spikes of these injection molded rollers are not very dense, whereby such rollers are not very effective in breaking the air bubbles even after repeated rolling of the surface. Also, the spikes of such plastic injection molded rollers are of a relatively large diameter, whereby they produce a relatively large footprint in the wet epoxy which doesn't self-level very well especially as the epoxy material starts to harden. Furthermore, such plastic injection molded rollers are not very rigid or durable and tend to wear out fairly quickly.